my greeting: “hi, welcome to starbucks. what can i get for you?”

neutral topics- Sympathize abt how annoying shortages are, the weather, how the week/summer is going, upcoming holidays, or just straight up compliment them. ppl love talking about themselves. also pets can always be a convo(if they have a dog w them) or something.

hope this helps!

My coworker’s greetings get me some times. Welcome to Jurassic park what can I get for you? Tells then their totally and goes, “watch out for the T. rex on the way up to the window. Another one is cockadoodle do what can in get for you? Or the cow goes moo what can I get for you?

I’m still pretty peppy when I talk to customers but I used to say your greeting but now I just say “hi what can I get for you?” I’m good at DTO and can input people’s orders quickly and efficiently without having a lot of problems (not to knock on some of my co workers but some of them be struggling lol they’ve been here a minute too so it’s not new and it hurts to hear) and ultimately that gives customers a more pleasant experience than a cool greeting imo.

Welcome to Starbucks, your official caffeination destination/station

Welcome to Starbucks, where we make the drinks and the drinks make your day

Welcome to Starbucks, how can we get you caffeinated today?


On DTR, if I need to chat up a customer, I usually ask where they’re headed off to and go from there

I always work mornings, so I usually say "good morning, sunshine. My name is ____. How can we help you today?"
Most people eat it up. 🤷

My phrase is: “Hi welcome to Starbucks, how are you doing today/what can I get for you today?”

Sometimes I’ll throw in a “thanks for stopping at Starbucks” as well. Window topics range from the weather (hot topic here in MN) to whatever they’ve got going on that day to local gossip and whatnot. You’ll usually get the vibe of who’s typically open to talking vs who’s not. The guy who won’t respond or make eye contact? Probably best to not even try. But usually everyone enjoys a a good old “how’s it going?” Or “so what’ve you got going on today?”. Yes it’s small talk and can be annoying but it can also be a positive interaction!

I do not deviate from saying “Thanks for choosing Starbucks, what can we get started for you?” Because that makes me most comfortable.

As for the window I just compliment something about the customer. It could be their car, shirt, air freshener, whatever. If they want to talk they might volunteer more information about it.
Especially if they have dogs. Dog people love to talk about their dogs and I love to see dogs.
If someone doesn’t want to talk I don’t push it, but at least I gave them a little ego boost. I still count it as connecting with the customer.

Edit: although when I feel spicy I’ll banter with them like if they ask for a second I’ll say “I’ll do one even better, I’ll give you multiple seconds” or “no worries, I’ll be right here in this box when you need me” I have more fun when I can’t be seen.

I typically would look up what “national day” it is. For example today, August 12th is national vinyl record day or national middle child day and put it into my greeting. “Good morning! Happy national middle child day! What can I get started for you?” People at my store loved it and regulars would often ask me what national day it is if I didn’t tell them.

Welcome to Dunkin Donuts: America Runs on Dunkin.

Even better if you’re not in the US.

I would talk about our seasonal coffees, it’s neutral and it’s on brand so the person would never be taken aback but the topic. For regulars ask them non-invasive questions, like “ I see you drive a Maserati, that’s a really cool car…” or comment on something playing on the radio in their car. “Oh The Beach Boys, I love The Beach Boys.” Questions are the key, get them talking and 95% of the work in conversation is now done.

Is it rude to just say hi what can I get started for you today

Howdy hey, whatcha havin today?

We will say "thanks for choosing starbucks can I get ya started with something to eat? This way whoever is doing food can start their meal.

At dtr I talk alot about the weather. Ask people about their plans. if they say they are going to work I ask what they do and pretend to be interested.

Also ask about what tv shows they might be binging.

I like to look up local activities too like "are you going to the farmers market tomorrow" ect.

I’m no longer a partner but here are a few that I’ve come up with or heard during my time with the company. Note that “how can I get you started?” is interchangeable with “could I start you off with anything to eat?”, “what can I get for you?”, etc. Also these don’t incorporate asking the customers name as my store acknowledged asking that in the drivethrough is not only unnecessary, but 90% of customers don’t want to answer it anyway. I’m sure you could find a way to incorporate it if your manager pushes it though

“Thank you for choosing/welcome to Starbucks, my name is *insert name* Bippity boppity boo what can I do for you”

“Welcome aboard the SSstarbucks, this is your captain *insert name* speaking. I’ll be your guide through the seas of the siren today. How can I get your started?” ^my personal favorite

“Welcome to your local caffeination station, my name is *insert name* Could I get you started with anything to eat?”

I also did a lot of playing around with my name, finding fun and interesting ways to use it.

Thanks everyone for your responses! Everyone has been so helpful. I'm literally writing these down and putting them on a flash card to keep in my apron 🤣

Talk about weather, y’all’s day, plans for the day, or if they have a pet just talk about the pet lol

Neutral topics: Ask if they have any big plans for the day/weekend, "are you just heading to work then? that's cool, what do you do?" , compliment them

I say “ hello welcome to starbucks my name is ____ whats up buttercup?” Or whats up pussycat? Or sometimes ill say whats the word hummingbird?
Ill even ask what their favorite color is too lol

I was stuck on DTO for about 6 weeks while injured, and I ended up doing a "question of the day" series. Our regulars LOVED it! They even suggested questions for the next day. Some examples are, "what's your favorite flower?" and "if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?" Slightly thought provoking, and definitely positive.

I had a coworker always say "Good morning! How may I caffinate you today?"

I legit never have said “welcome to Starbucks”…. People know where they are…. That’s why they come…